


Familiarity

by Anonymous



Category: Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Post-RD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 02:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13354902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Soren admits suspicions about his parentage to Ike.





	Familiarity

"I think my father was the Mad King." The words are spoken without thinking, and Soren regrets them almost the second they pass his lips. It's not because they're untrue, or even because he particularly wanted to keep the matter a secret.

(Well, mostly. There had been... just a moment, really, when he'd considered trying to hide this most recent awful truth about himself even from the person whose acceptance he most wanted.

The impulse had passed. The notion that surely even Ike's tolerance for his inherent flaws must have limits is one that, he thinks, has been sufficiently tested, and can be safely dismissed. His heritage isn't a matter of import, as far as Ike is concerned. After all this time and everything they've been through together, Soren can finally bring himself to believe it as well.)

No, that isn't the problem. Rather, his regret is that as pillow talk goes, this is some of the worst he's ever come up with. Now it's far too late to deflect, and up until this point, the evening had been rather enjoyable. Ike's sprawled across the bed on his back, and Soren's settled comfortably upon him, ear resting against his chest to listen to his slowing heartbeat while Ike idly pets his hair.

(Rescuing some Lord's son from brigands isn't their usual fare these days, as work goes. But the Lord seemed tolerable, they'd no intention of staying in the area long enough for any reputation to spread, and the reward had been sizeable. The short-term, excessively comfortable lodgings are a side benefit, even if it's not the sort of place either of them would want to stay for more than a few days.)

At Soren's words, Ike's hand momentarily stills.

"Ashnard? You really think so?" He sounds surprised, but not particularly judgmental, and returns to petting Soren's hair promptly.

"It seems like the mostly likely explanation for... a number of things." He doesn't elaborate. If Ike's interested in the particulars, he can always ask later. "I should have figured it out months ago," Soren adds. He should have. The pieces were all there, of course—the false prince, the Goldoan princess's strange interest in him. His own features, his own nature.

Perhaps there had been an element of willful ignorance to it. Certainly, it was easier during the war and its immediate aftermath not to bother with such outlandish theorizing. 

Ike takes a moment to think. "Then Prince Kurthnaga's sister, Almedha. That would make her your mother?"

"I suppose so," Soren says. He doesn't really want to consider Almedha. As loathsome as the idea of being related to the Mad King is, at least it's thoroughly in the past. Living relatives (and living laguz relatives, at that) are somewhat less easy to dismiss.

"That would explain her wanting to talk to you," Ike says. "And it makes you royalty twice over, in a sense. With claim on the throne in Daein, even." He shrugs, a motion felt rather than seen. "It's not like it matters much now, though."

In a sense, that's exactly the reaction Soren expected, but he still pushes himself up just enough to turn and look Ike full in the face. He's wearing his habitual frown. No distaste, no pity. It's a relief.

Soren goes to drop his head back to Ike's chest, but before he can, Ike's free hand comes up to gently catch his chin.

"Hey," Ike says, and uses the hand that's been petting Soren's hair to tug lightly at his shoulder, coaxing him to scoot up a bit. He settles that hand on the side of Soren's face and draws him in with it, putting their foreheads together. Soren shuts his eyes.

"Your parentage never mattered to me, Soren. And it shouldn't to you, either. Didn't I tell you that the first time you were worrying over this sort of thing?"

"I believe you said you 'didn't give two figs,' in fact."

Ike chuckles, but then his tone turns serious again. "I meant it," he says. "I don't. Not then, not now. Not ever. You're important to me because you're you, not because of your powers or bloodline."

"Thank you, Ike," he says softly.

The reassurance isn't strictly necessary; Soren hadn't seriously expected this new information to change anything between them. He's still glad to hear it, though, and that's probably part of why Ike said it—because for everything Ike can claim about Soren knowing him well, the reverse is just as true, if not truer.

"Yeah, of course."

Soren draws back to rest his head on Ike's chest again, and Ike wraps both arms around him, holding him close. They lay in silence for a while, before eventually he feels Ike yawn. He supposes it is late.

Comfortable as his current position is, it's not ideal for sleeping. He rolls himself off Ike, and Ike takes the hint, shifting to lying on his side and pulling Soren back against his chest once he's comfortably situated. Soren presses back against him, catches one of Ike's hands with his own and laces their fingers together. "Sleep well, Ike," he says. Ike hums acknowledgement and squeezes his hand, and Soren lets himself drift off.


End file.
